The Fair

The fair was a blast! It turns out Uncle Eric is a ringer at carnival games. With just a few tosses he won Aly an elephant. We went through 2 buckets of rings with no success; Eric tries again, a few tosses and we get the snake. Mati could not be more thrilled with this snake. The tail even rattles! She wanted to carry it which is nearly impossible so Doug picked her up so she could "ride" it.

Mati tried putting the snake's tongue on everyone that walked by to give out snake kisses.

Up, up, up in on the giant ferris wheel.

Mati and Aly giving the circus train a try.

The all-star pony rider. No walk-along needed anymore.

Driving the jeep. Every seat has a steering wheel, which is why the kid in the back cracks me up, sitting back like Mati is his chauffeur.

I love this picture, it shows the total joy she took in every ride. Smiling, laughing, squealing all afternoon.

This time she got to drive the circus train.

Mati and Aly riding the rockets:

Doug & Mati on the spinning strawberry ride.

Fair Results

2nd place Peanut Butter Fudge

2nd place sugar cookie

3rd place - "Any other drop cookie" Pumpkin Chocolate Chip

The blue ribbon winning peanut butter cookie:

Blue ribbon winning banana bread (the bottom one):

Blue ribbon winning sweet roll:

Blue ribbon winning white bread:

The runner-up sign at the fair. Aren't you impressed by the blue paper stapled to the doily?

Two major accomplishments this year: Runner-up Super Cook and everything I entered, all 12 items, placed.

The results are:
6 blue ribbons for 1st place in: white bread, banana bread, sweet rolls, lemon poppy seed cake, peanut butter cookies, and English walnut pie.

5 red ribbons for 2nd place in: chocolate cake, sugar cookies, brownies, peach pie, and peanut butter fudge.

1 white ribbon for 3rd place in "any other drop cookie" - pumpkin chocolate chip.

Next year's goal: Super Cook.

Dairy Expo

We attended our third "Great Dairy Adventure" at the MSU pavilion.

Mati gravitated right toward the tractors first on a John Deere then on a 1940 Farm All.


Then off to pet a calf, Mati even got licked which she thought was pretty cool.

Then the highlight, milking a cow.

Coloring a cow picture.

And our last stop, chocolate milk, yum!

Here is the milking a cow video:

Meijer Gardens

We started our tour in the Victorian Garden where we made a wish in the fountain.

Aly and Mati running through the water sculpture.

The entrance to the Children's Garden, the perfect height.

Sailing and fishing the "Great Lakes."

Nice day to catch some shade one a walk.

Aunt Jen had to tickle Mati's feet to get her to smile for this picture.

Exploring on her own.

Aly and Mati splashing in the fountains. It always pays to bring a change of clothes.

Independence Day!

We typically go to the Lansing Independence Day parade because it is a daytime parade. This year, because Mati can stay up a little later, we gave the Mason parade a try. It was wonderful. We packed a cooler with drinks and snacks of popcorn and gummy bears and enjoyed a great parade in beautiful weather.

Too busy enjoying her popcorn to pose for a picture.



Standing and waving her flag for the veterans who paraded by.

Twice during the parade some old US Army blue and yellow planes flew over. Mati sat chomping her gummy bears watching the fly-over.

One of our favorite parade entries, it was like a tractor tricycle.

One more cool entry, the draft horse!

When we got home we did our own fireworks show, a few small fountains and sparklers. Doug said "She can probably hold a sparkler, right?" I have to admit I was nervous. We lit 3 or 4 and demonstrated to Mati how to hold one before letting her give one a try. Thank God I married Doug because he is far more brave than I. I would have Mati bubble-wrapped and still carried around in a Bjorn if it weren't for his influence to let her explore.

This is her first glimpse of fireworks, a 2" fountain. It put out some pretty cool fireworks.


Here is her first sparkler! Notice the straight arm, away from her body, following her training.

Oh yes, we (mainly Doug) let her try two sparklers!

Putting on a show for us.

Splash!

Mati and I spent the morning at Hawk Island. We started at the playground which is in sight of the splash pad. Needless to say we didn't last long at the playground because Mati is drawn to water. So we had a ton of fun at the splash pad then spent a few minutes at the lake.

Strawberry Fields Forever

What a great time we had strawberry picking. Mati dove right in. She needed constant reminders about not picking white strawberries and then more reminders about not eating the strawberries in the field but it was a wonderful time. I think this will definitely be an annual trip and maybe we'll go back this summer and do some blueberry picking.

Now that we're home with them Mati thinks the strawberries are her own personal possession. I bought a pint of pre-picked raspberries while we were at the farm and Mati doesn't like them sitting near her strawberries. I put the case of strawberries on the kitchen counter, turned my back and Mati was picking up the entire case and putting them on her play table. She has certainly taken ownsership of the strawberries.